january 2019 - unclaimed money association

JANUARY 2019UNCLAIMED MONEY

INDUSTRY REPORT

Created by

Unclaimed Money Association of Australia

www.unc la imedmoneyassoc iat ion .o rg

BACKGROUND INFORMATION RELATING TO THE UNCLAIMED MONEY INDUSTRY

The Unclaimed Money Refund Industry in Australia is a young, dynamic and growing niche industry, that holds value for key stakeholders – namely, refund agents currently valued at over $24 billion. According to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, $129 million is in federal custody in from lost bank accounts, shares, investments and life insurance policies as at June 2016 additionally $19.2 billion in lost superannuation accounts for the same period.

The Funds Are Administered

The Funds Are Administeredunder various Federal & State ACTS across Australian states and territories- the complexity of the practices involved the collection, administration and refund of the lost funds and assets has created an incredible opport nity for individuals who are professional, ethical and enterprising to work with the holding authorities to assist in the refund process of the billions of dollars waiting to be returned to their owner.

This Creates A Synergy of perfect whereby the Agent is assisting all parties involved- on one side the Refund agent assists the holding Authorities fulfil their legal mandate under the relevant federal & state ACTs and on the other side they assist their customer the money owner to be refunded monies owed to them.

Within This Process the agent earns a fee out of each amount he /she assists inn refunding thus making a great income doing something of real service & value. It is a Win/Win/Win.

WWW.UNCLAIMEDMONEYASSOCIATION.ORG UNCLAIMED MONEY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA © 2019

THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR MANAGING LOST & MISPLACED MONEY & ASSETS- AUSTRALIA

Unclaimed funds remittance and refund processes are highly regulated under the Australian legal frame work for example, under Australian legislation authorised deposit taking institutions such as banks, are governed by the Banking and are required to revert all Misplaced funds in accordance to Australian legislation for refund. Life insurance companies & benefit fund friendly societies, adhere to the Life Insurance Act, and are required by law to revert all Misplaced funds and assets for refund to its owner annually. The various States or territory also have laws which govern and administer all the missing funds & assets Companies with lost money/property, are required of the Corporations Act.

This are a set of examples as to the various legal frame works that govern what is a young, growing and very dynamic multi-billion-dollar industry.

The various States or territory also have laws which govern and administer Misplaced money, assets & financial instruments.

01 02 03 04

Agent locates owner of funds

under the bounds of various government laws and legislation the agent is required to correctly identify owners of misplaced

money.

Agents require authorisation in

order to begin the refund of said funds.

To get started the client must give consent for the

agent to act on their behalf.

Agent then begins the refund process of recovering the clients lost funds from respective

holding entities. This process & shouldn’t

be attempted without training.

Refund of monies to the client

money is owing to is then completed as

soon as funds are received from the holding entity. This process can

vary in time.

The Unclaimed Money Refund industry in Australia is a young, dynamic and growing niche industry, that holds huge value for key stakeholders – namely, refund agents currently valued at over $24 billion in lost money, estates and financial instruments. According to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), $990 million is in federal custody in from lost bank accounts, shares, investments and life insurance policies as at June 2018 additionally $19.2 billion in lost and unclaimed superannuation accounts for the same period .


2019 REPORT - 01

As illustrated in table 1, lost and unclaimed superannuation funds value as administered by the ATO have been declining over the last 5 years. However, the total value for the year ending 2106 is still a considerable $19.2 billion.

Table 1

As illustrated in table 2 above, un-refunded money relating to bank accounts, life insurance policies and corporation payments have increased dramatically since 2015. Of greater significance is the increase of dormant bank account money from $380m in 2015 to $672m in 2018, an increase of 60%.

Unrecovered Money awareness

It is clear from the level of media articles (see below), growth in the Refund industry and an increase in education and general public awareness by the Government and Industry bodies such as the Unclaimed Money Association of Australia (UMAA), lost and unclaimed superannuation values have declined considerably.


2019 REPORT - 02

TREND IN TOTAL VALUE OF UNCLAIMED MONEY

IN THE NEWS; MEDIA ARTICLES


2019 REPORT - 03

THE ROLE OF MONEY REFUND AGENTS

The unclaimed money refund industry has been evolving over the last decade and the Refund Agent profession has evolved as a result. Most leading refund Agents are professionally trained and are members of UMAA.

So what does a Refund Agents do? Most people have no idea they have any money owing to them. In short, Refund agents connect lost funds to their rightful owners ensuring that individuals are made aware of funds that may be owed to them and assisting them in the claim process. Of course, it’s a lot more complicated than that. Amounts can range from as little as 5 cents to as much as $500,000 plus.

AGENTWIN, WIN, WIN

HOLDING AUTHORITY

MONEY OWNER


2019 REPORT - 04

GENERAL REFUND PROCESS

TRACKING DOWN POTENTIAL OWNERS

VERIFYING OWNERSHIP

RECOVERING THE LOST MONEY/ASSET

REMITTING MONEY TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNERS WITH

FULL DOCUMENTATION

Multiple data bases are searched and analysed to determine if a person has any unrecovered funds or

assets owing.

Once money/asset is identified, a strict proof of identity and verification process is followed. This includes certification of all identity documents

such as birth certificates, marriage certificates,

passports etc.

Depending on where the lost/unclaimed money is found, a formal process with the Department or

Agency is followed and all paperwork is completed for the client ensuring

compliance with all rules and regulations.

Upon receiving the funds, remitting the funds and

all proof of entitlement is sent to the client.

The Unclaimed Money Association is the peak body for the Unclaimed Money Industry in Australia. The Unclaimed Money Association provides the

industry, agents, government and the public with proper representation, information and education. The Unclaimed Money Association provides

industry guidelines for service providers to best practice in the unclaimed money industry.


2019 REPORT - 05

january 2019 - unclaimed money association

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